


bad timing

by O_oJustGuess



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3396716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/O_oJustGuess/pseuds/O_oJustGuess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico was a year round camper, and, without anyone to tell him otherwise, he spent the winter shadow travelling between the underworld, Camp Jupiter, and Camp Half-Blood. When the campers finally came back for summer, Nico decided it was better to show up a week late so he didn’t have to deal with a large horde of excited, ADHD, social teenagers. When he shadow-traveled back to camp, though, he wished he had a better sense of timing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	bad timing

Nico was a year round camper, and, without anyone to tell him otherwise, he spent the winter shadow-travelling between the underworld, Camp Jupiter, and Camp Half-Blood. When the campers finally came back for summer, Nico decided it was better to show up a week late so he didn’t have to deal with a large horde of excited, ADHD, social teenagers. When he did shadow-travel back to camp, though, he wished he had a better sense of timing.

“ _Nico!_ ” an all too familiar voice snapped when Nico appeared under the tree next to the archery course. “I told you not to shadow travel! Do you not care about your health?” Will Solace (of _course -_ ah, frick) grabbed Nico’s wrist and dragged him towards the infirmary, muttering about heat lamps and stubborn emo gits. When they got to the infirmary, Will immediately pointed at the bed Nico had spent three days in the year before.

“I’m fine, Will,” Nico grumbled, thumping onto the bed.

“How long have you been shadow traveling?” Will demanded. He was grabbing random stuff from cabinets, and his frenetic motions were generating a lot of stares from nearby patients.

“All winter,” Nico said calmly. “But I’m fine.”

“ _All winter?_ ” Will exclaimed.

Nico groaned as he slammed his head back on the pillow, exasperated by Will’s incapability of realizing he was okay. “I’m fine!” he snapped for the third time.

Will abruptly stopped grabbing random stuff at his outburst.

“I’m _fine_ ,” Nico repeated, getting out of the bed. He slipped out of the infirmary amid curious stares and, rebelliously, shadow-traveled to his cabin.

**-~*~-**

It was night time before Nico came back out of his cabin. He sat on the sand bank that lined the water and skipped rocks into the lake.

“Sorry."

Nico turned to see Will standing next to him, his hands buried in his pockets. Though Nico would never admit it, Apollo's son looked quite nice in that position.

“It’s all right,” Nico said with a shrug. He searched for another rock to skip, Will standing quietly next to him.

Will broke the silence. “You weren't at dinner,” he noted. Nico grunted and threw another rock into the lake. It made a satisfying plop.

“I’m not starving myself, if that's what you're wondering,” Nico said, dryly, before standing up. He had started to walk away from the lake before Will grabbed his wrist. 

"What," Nico started, and then Will's lips were pressed against his. 

It - wasn't a  _bad_ kiss, just a  _weird_ one. Will was backing away before Nico had reopened his eyes, looking nervous. Nico pressed his fingers to his lips, looked at Will, at his fingers, back at Will, and said, "What in the name of Hades."

Will blushed, rubbed at his neck, and scrambled back to the cabins.

**-~*~-**

Will stayed in his cabin for the entire day. The official story was that he wasn't _feeling well_ _enough_ to do anything. His cabinmates had shrugged, left him alone in the cabin, and took the opportunity to start rumors on why he was sequestering himself in his cabin like a hermit. Before noon, it was speculated that he had been screwed into the mattress the night before (the Aphrodite cabin was placing bets), that he was in mourning for Fred Weasley after finishing Harry Potter (that one was maybe a little bit true, Will had to admit to himself; he had binge-read the last book after his botched kiss with Nico), and that he had become a werewolf and wasn't coming out for the safety of the campers (which: what the hell). It was nighttime, right before curfew, before he finally had the courage to step outside for some fresh air. There were still campers, clustered around the fire, who pointed at him when he emerged. Ignoring them, he jogged to the edge of the forest and along the side of the lake, feeling the breeze off the water and the cool night air.

“On your left,” a voice said, next to him. Will turned as Nico jogged up to him.

Will slowed to a stop. “Hey,” he said. 

“You weren't at dinner,” Nico said, echoing Will's words from last night. “Or anywhere for the entire day.”

“Looking for me?” he asked, slipping into his instinctively flirty mode. Along with the flirting came the instant regret, and he internally groaned.

Nico chuckled and shook his head. “No, but it’s really kind of obvious. Your cabin mates were making up so many lies. It was actually hilarious.”

Perhaps he was staring too long, because Nico was looking at him, confused. “What?” he asked, twisting around and looking behind him. He turned back around. "Do I have something on my face?”

Will looked down for a second, collecting all the confidence he had, and pulled Nico forward by the shirt. But Nico was faster - he pulled Will into the kiss before Will could do it himself. The kiss seemed endless, but it wasn't like Will minded. It was silent around them, and when they pulled apart, most of the camp was staring.

As if on cue, Percy screamed out, “ _Ha! Grace, you owe me fifty bucks!_ ”

With that, the entire camp started moving again, whispering incoherently.

**-~*~-**

As Nico walked through the camp, Will right behind him, he felt happier than he had ever been.

Maybe his timing wasn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't write kissing scenes. I have just realized this.


End file.
